Complete Highways

If you have been hiding under a rock for the last 6 weeks, then you have missed some fantastic discourse surrounding "Complete Streets."  What is Complete Streets, you ask?  Well, according to Minnesota Law, Chapter 351, Sec. 52 [174.75] COMPLETE STREETS., Subdivision 1:

"Complete streets" is the planning, scoping, design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of roads in order to reasonably address the safety and accessibility needs of users of all ages and abilities.  Complete streets considers the needs of motorists, pedestrians, transit users and vehicles, bicyclists, and commercial and emergency vehicles moving along and across roads, intersections, and crossings in a manner that is sensitive to the local context and recognizes that the needs vary in urban, suburban, and rural settings.

In an over-simplified statement, it means creating a public right of way to accommodate everyone.  It turns the roadway over to many modes of transportation other than cars and it intends to create a more pleasant and safe environment for the pedestrian.  These are all great things and the Complete Streets ordinance that Rochester adopted is a step in the right direction.

It got us wondering: if this ordinance can transform simple, austere roads into lush, multi-modal, streetscapes, think of what could be done with Highway 52?  This seemed like a perfect challenge for the Group and we threw together a scheme. (click on the images below to enlarge...or save to your Desktop. Make it your wallpaper!)

Existing road section for 3-lanes of traffic in each direction, shoulders, buffer, and frontage road.

Taking a representative section of Highway 52 (in this case between 19th Street NW and 37th Street NW), we measured 220 feet between sound barrier walls.  220 FEET!!  While not big enough to play baseball or soccer, a solid arena footbal league could operate in that acreage.  So let's put on the fuzzy glasses and envision the Highway 52 corridor given back to the pedestrian and designed for all modes of transportation; the kind of design that breathes urban life back into the strip mall, big box retail paradigm. 

Accomodating light rail, subway, dedicated bus lanes, vehicular traffic, bicyclists, on-street parking, boulevard trees, sidewalks, and pocket parks.

Since Government money seems to be all the rage nowadays, let's lobby our congressmen (and women) for a Complete Highways program!  Together we can bring forward the kind of ideas for change that are able to transform our built environment to improve our quality of life (so then our City Council can vote them down).

Big Blooper on Broadway

Rochester's downtown is teeming with activity this summer.  New restaurants are abounding and an expanded Thursday's on First is more crowded than ever even with record heat and humidity.  One such establishment capitalizing on the revitalization is Big Brad's on Broadway.  A consortium of three local restaurateurs have combined to create a new watering hole in a section of the historical Paine Furniture Company store. 

The reuse of the building is a success for downtown.  The design of the facade...sadly, is not.  With such high hopes for front facade transformations--piggy-backing on recent successful revisions Sushitto/Katz', Pescara, and Dooley's--this one falls short.  For such a prominent address, it has been such a colossal disappointment. 

With the arguments over adaptive reuse, historical preservation, and redevelopment aside, the two bays of the Paine Furniture store with its 16' tall ceilings and wide open floor plan is ripe for a new establishment.  The remaining third of the facade that Big Brad's is now occupying, could be torn down and built from scratch.  In the future, as the skyway system is planned to cross Broadway from the City Center development, Big Brad's may become the base of the elevated skyway.  So removing a section of "old and tired" building to make way for a brand new business that may become a showpiece for downtown Rochester was our charge. 

GDG developed three alternative concepts.  Leave a comment on which you would rather see on Broadway: a Big Blooper, or a Bad-Ass Building?

mixed use - pocket theatre with upstairs martini bar

green design - living wall creates a vegetated facade

vertical lantern - glowing all glass stair tower highlights circulation

existing - 'nuff said

Mind the Gap

What is the best wasy to "close the loop" in the downtown skyway system?

Decisions regarding transportation are often determined by ease and simplicity (read: efficiency).  The problem with efficiency is that it can exist at the expense of design.  When it comes to the downtown skyway and subway system, the decisions of routing have been made by businesses and the City in the interest of efficiency.  However, it is important to remember that skyways have an impact on the activity of the street and the overall aesthetic perception of residents and visitors.  Wouldn't it be better to create a skyway system that served the needs of its users but did not sacrifice the feel of streets and architecture? 

Whether you agree with the decision or not, the downtown skyway is expected to cross Broadway south of 2nd Street.  This is intended to "close the loop" that exists surrounding the downtown core.  Currently, it is planned to cross Broadway on the 300 block from the new City Center building through the former Paine Furniture store building or a new building in its place.  This would continue into the new UMR residence hall project and finally to the new expansion to the ramp connected to the Bio Business Center.

This would impact the buildings on either side of Broadway that have some vestige of historical architectural character and, because of the scale of the buildings, dominate the streetscape.  This is the most efficient route, but shouldn't we mind the gap?

Another option: The skyway system currently dead ends in the Holiday Inn building on the east side of Broadway.  This section will connect to the City Center building in the next year.  The reason for having the skyway in a hotel makes sense for the tourism industry and for the convenience of patients accessing Mayo facilities.  On the west side of Broadway is another hotel, Hilton Garden Inn, which also has a dead end section of skyway for the same reasons as mentioned above.  Wouldn't these two businesses prefer to close the loop to increase traffic through their hotels and to provide a quicker and more convenient access to downtown buildings?  These two buildings are also more than 6 stories tall which makes a skyway connection more in scale with the street.  They are also relatively devoid of architectural character and definitely nothing of any significance. 

As is true in real estate, the more expected a project becomes, the more expensive it can become to realize.  Closing the loop across Broadway on the 300 block requires a new building owner to front a 1/4 of the cost of a new skyway in addition to purchasing the Paine Furniture building and any renovations or complete redevelopment.  That makes a already high priced piece of real estate even more cost prohibitive.  In contrast, the 200 block has two established businesses with existing skyway legs and would only require they front 1/4 of the cost of a new skyway to increase the vitality, viability and accessibility of their respective businesses. 

As downtown continues to develop, keep an eye out for future skyway connections, building developments in-line with the Urban Village design guidelines, and recommendations that emerge from the downtown master planning process.  Then compare the reality to what was proposed and critically analyze how our City is doing when it comes to urban design decisions.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The 2009 Rochies!

 

Welcome to the 1st Annual Rochie Awards for Unparalleled Design Excellence.  The Rochester Magazine has the "Best of" and now Guerrilla Design Group has "The Rochies."  Celebrate the subtle beauty that exists in our own bustling metropolis. 

(coming soon)

Where's Wojcik?

My travels have taken me from my City Council office to the Martin Luther King Day march.  Keep your eyes peeled... can you spot me?

 

 

Did you find me?